The present specification generally relates to vehicles for transporting passengers and, more specifically, to vehicles for providing access to handicapped or ambulatory passengers.
Vehicles such as, for example, buses, ambulances, and the like, can be utilized to transport a relatively high volume of passengers compared to consumer vehicles such as cars. Vehicles can be produced and sold by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Alternatively, an OEM can manufacture and sell a chassis that includes a cab, a frame and other rolling components (e.g., drive train, axle, wheels, and the like). The OEM chassis can be sold to other manufacturers that modify the OEM chassis or add components to the OEM chassis to produce a vehicle in various states of completeness. For example, the OEM chassis can be modified by an intermediary and resold as a chassis cab that includes specialized equipment such as, for example, frame modifications and suspension modifications. An example of a chassis cab is the Air-Chassis™ by Dallas Smith Corp. of Greencastle, Ind., USA.
Accordingly, the OEM chassis or chassis cab can include suspension components that lower or “kneel” the chassis to a curb height to accommodate loading of passengers, frames that have been modified to accept a ramp for loading handicapped or ambulatory passengers, or both. Despite kneeling and ramp accessible chassis equipment, handicapped passengers can have difficulty with ingress and egress from low floor vehicles.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative vehicles for providing access to handicapped or ambulatory passengers.